This invention relates to a control arrangement for cooking appliances, as well as to a method for controlling cooking in such appliances. While the invention is of especial use for controlling gas and electric ovens, it is apparent that it may also be advantageously employed in combination with other cooking devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,810, Carmean, discloses a microprocessor control system for a cooking appliance wherein control programs for the cooking of various predetermined foods are stored in memory, and the identification and cooking parameters of these foods are scanned in a display in order to enable an operator to readily access the optimum program for cooking the selected food. The system enables the operator to select various food parameters such as relative size of the food to be cooked and the desired doneness of the food. The control system controls various oven cooking parameters to achieve the expected results, and may introduce any required pauses in the process.
In the past, convection fans have been employed in ovens in order to provide more effective and efficient distribution of heat during cooking. Such forced circulation ovens are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,973,551 and 4,108,139.